tim mcgraw

Brett and Brad Warren always write their songs together, and as the Nashville songwriting duo The Warren Brothers, their industrious pens have been working for the likes of Martina McBride, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, and Dierks Bentley, among an impressive, steady growing list of others.

“Because we’re brothers, we have a built-in chemistry,” Brett explains. “We’re also brutally honest with each other. It can be refreshing and also taxing to write with us, but it will not be boring.”

The Brothers’ writing process seems about as diverse as their list of co-writers themselves: “We might go have lunch with Martina, and something in conversation will hit us, and we’ll write a song about that. Or Tim will call me up with an idea, and I’ll head over to his house, and we’ll write it. Or we’ll just start messing around on a guitar and try to think of stuff. There’s really no set way.”

Despite the Brothers current savvy, they worked hard to hit their stride. Early in their now 15-year career, Brad and Brett performed as artists, releasing three albums in six years, and served as judges on CMT’s Nashville Star for a time. Since then, they’ve found their niche as wholly devoted songwriters and have hurled themselves into the arena without hesitation.

“As regular artists, we were way too diverse,” Brett clarifies. “As songwriters, [that diversity] has been a blessing. We have a song on Hinder’s record and Toby Keith’s, we have four songs on Tim McGraw’s new album, and we’re writing with Orianthi this week. We just had a song cut by Lynyrd Skynyrd even, so we’re all over the map, and it is so much fun. We’ve written with Chris Daughtry and Ne-yo and people that are so different, it’s not even funny.”

The Warren Brothers’ lively schedule is due in part to their high demand as great writers but also probably as much to their enthusiasm and passion for finding the perfect song. They write with purpose and zeal for the music above all else.

“The best moments in my career have been the ones where I realized we were writing not for the money, not for an award; it was all about the song.”

Angie Aparo has made a name for himself writing key songs for some heavy hitters in the music world. His career, burgeoning from penning hits like “Cry” and “Free Man” for Faith Hill and Tim McGraw respectively, continues to flourish with a cut on Miley Cyrus’ 2010 record and two tracks on McGraw’s January 2012 release.

But writing for others seems to come easily to Aparo: “When I’m writing for someone else, it’s like writing a play. I know the characters.”

These days, he’s challenging himself and taking time to write autobiographically. The solo album he’s currently working on will be his first in six years, and it’s about time by the sound of it.

“Writing for myself is a religion, it’s a therapy; it’s all these things wrapped in one, and then, oh yeah, there are the songs,” Angie quips. “For me, the songs are a just by-product of sitting with yourself for a while.”

And Aparo takes that alone time very seriously. Indeed, it is the only successful way he’s found to write his songs.

“When I’m writing my own record, I have to be so alone,” he says. “I sequester myself. It takes time to figure out what I’m trying to say and then how to say it.”

As Angie takes to the recording studio, he’s not tying himself to any one idea. In fact, he’s blowing the doors off anything remotely conventional and working toward music that is “playful” and “unorthodox” instead.

“I want to make anti-music, but I don’t know what that means yet. I mean, what is music? I think we’ve limited it. This record’s going to be interesting,” Aparo reveals. “I’m sampling sounds, noises; I want to make a noise orchestra, you know, life happening. I think it’s going to be a real joyful record.”

Beyond all else, Aparo’s desires lie among the satisfaction derived from making something new and above all, musical.

“It just doesn’t matter the medium; I’ll do anything to make music. I’m on this journey now of what can I turn into an instrument.” Angie’s journey continues on the road this summer, following the release of his eighth record, expected late this spring.